After writing about ways to naturally colour soap, I thought I’d better complete the story with a list of natural soap additives that I love. So, how did I decide what goes in the “additive” category and what’s a colourant? There’s definitely some overlap, to be sure. The things on the “additives” list are generally insoluble, so they can act as a bit of an exfoliatant. They also aren’t already on my list of colourants, so while clay can be both, it’s already on the colourant list, so there it will live. It’s hardly a science, but it’ll do. This list is, of course, far from complete, but I think it’s a great starting point, and these are the additives I just keep coming back to.
The little dark yellowish flecks are bits of calendula petals.
Lavender buds & bits of dried rosemary leaves.
Flower petals, leaves, and herbs
There’s no shortage of types of botanical bits to toss into a batch of soap, but most go a bit wonky in the colour department. Rose petals go black, and lavender buds take on a brown colour that, when combined with their characteristic shape, make them look like wee bits of mouse poop in your soap. Calendula petals, hower, keep their lovely yellow colour, and as a result are a favourite in soaps. You are, of course, welcome to use whatever botanical bits & pieces you like, just be sure to do a test batch first so you know what’s going to happen in the colour department. I’d also always recommend using the dried version so the petals don’t warp the soap on you as they dry.
I didn’t grind the barley for this beer soap very finely, and while those little dots look lovely, this soap is a bit strong on the scrubby side (by my standards, at least).
Grains—toasted/crushed/ground
Grains are one of my favourite soap additives. They’re easy to come by, inexpensive, and can be ground to a variety of different textures for different levels of scrubby power. Toasted, ground rice and barley are two of my favourites, and are fantastic in Thai and beer soaps, respectively.
Coffee grounds
Coffee grounds make a fantastically scrubby soap, great for gardeners and other people who love to get their hands dirty. And, best of all, you can use them after you’ve made your coffee with them, so you can avoid excess waste. Just take care not to overdo it on the grounds, and start at about a tablespoon of grounds per 500g/1lb of oils—the first batch of coffee ground soap I made could have been used to scrub off tattoos.
Tea leaves
Tea leaves are a fun way to accentuate a tea-themed soap. I would advise you to lightly grind them down in your DIY coffee grinder, though, and to be wary of using too many leaves as the leaves swell up greatly in size when exposed to water. My first batch of tea leaf soap ended up having far larger bits of tea (and as a result, far more tea in relation to the soap) in it than I’d anticipated. The large bits of tea then proceeded to dry out and be quite tough on the skin, and generally refuse to wash down the drain easily.
Nuts & seeds—ground almonds, shredded coconut, other chopped/ground nuts, poppy seeds
As with many soap additives that are quite solid, here’s another category where you’ll want to be sure to be using rather small, well-ground bits of these things, and avoid using too much. My first go at soap using shredded coconut was like a bar of soap combined with steel wool—I used large flake ground coconut, and far too much of it. Ouch! Stick with well ground bits—you’ll notice once the bar is done, I promise.
Luffa
A whole luffa/loofah is a really fun thing to work into your soaps—learn more about that here. You can also buy ground up luffa and use that as well.
Other soap—scraps, balls, etc.
Working bits of other batches of soaps into new batches can be a fun way to use up scraps, or to work in a neat polka-dot/suspended shape of your choice effect.
And, to close, I should note that a good rule of thumb is 1–2 tbsp of additives per 500g/1lb of oils, taking into consideration the grittiness of the additive, and the intended use of the soap.
Ok, that’s my list—what are your favourites?
I use some kind of additives almost in every soap I make. I just like them like that for some reason I don’t even know. I’ve used coffee, lavender, rose petals, rosemary, nettle, birch leaves, chamomille, salt, cinnamon, coconut shreds, banana pure, mango pure, honey…maybe something else too, I just don’t remember them all right now. I would like to try calendula and luffa too, but I don’t have them yet. I’m planning to grow some calendula next summer, so maybe I’ll try it then…
Wow, you’re an additive aficionado, Signe 🙂 Do you used dried banana and mango? I’ve found using fresh fruits in soaps causes the bars to warp as they cure because the fruits dry out more than the rest of the bar.
I admit it, yes I am 😀 I used fresh fruits, I made puree of them. I didn’t have any problems with fruits, only thing that worries me is storing age. But there hasn’t been any problems with that either. I forgot silk out of my list, I use that too.
Ooh, very cool! I’m planning on soaping this weekend, perhaps some pureed carrots or something will make it into a batch 😉 And I have been meaning to try silk soap for AGES, I’ve heard so many good things about it!
Clays! I love using clay in my soap. It makes the lather super smooth and fluffy-and as you well know, it’s great for shaving.
Besides clay, I don’t use too many additives-I want to perfect my recipes before incorporating extras. Once I experimented with lavender petals, and, boy, is that mouse poop analogy apt 🙂
Oooh yeah, I luuuurve clays. I put ’em in my “colorants” entry, but they are pretty much a must for me—I can’t remember the last time I made a batch of soap for personal use without it. I’ve been playing with combining my whipped soap with some clay for shaving, and it’s divine 😀
I love these informative posts 😀 there’s always something new to learn. Could you do a post on soap problem solving if you haven’t already. Like problem solving when cutting the soap up, i.e. what it means if it’s too soft/spongy/hard/has holes in it and what to do to salvage the soap if possible. It would be greatly appreciated. 🙂
Thanks, Annie! I haven’t done a post on soap problem solving yet, but I shall add it to my list 🙂
I love this! I wish I could make soap, but it scares me! The whole lye thing and a lot of things could go wrong… Could you post how you make your bar soap? Thanks! 🙂
It’s not scary at all, I promise 🙂 You can read about lye in soapmaking here, and how to make soap here 🙂
I should have read your post when it arrived to my box this weekend…….I made my first batch of soap on Sunday (without reading your new post), your all in one recipe and I thought to myself it looked a bit plain so I had some dried lavender and tossed it on the top. You are right it turned brown and does resemble mouse poop! Lesson learned…..however I am still really proud of how it turned out minus the mouse poop and can’t wait to use it. Since I made it for myself and not to give I don’t mind the discoloration. Thanks for sharing!
Ha! I did exactly the same thing with my first batch of soap 😛 I had read about the mouse poop thing so I tried chopping up the buds a bit, but that didn’t help all that much, lol. Oh well! It smells amazing, and I’ve never had anybody complain about a free bar of homemade soap 😛 Thanks for reading & DIYing with me!
I also love to use pureed fruits and veggies to my soaps. I made one soap using pureed pumpkin and while it is not ready yet, I love the smell and smooth feel of the soap – I can’t wait to use it. I am also planning to use pureed carrots and sweet potatoes (aka baby food 🙂 ) in future soaps. I looked at the ingredients and the pureed fruit/veggie is the only item listed. I can’t wait to try that this weekend!
How funny! I was just noticing baby food jars at the grocery store the other day as the self checkout line wound down the baby aisle, and I was thinking “hmmm… $0.88/jar… and those sure are cute jars… but what would I do with the baby food… pasta… soup… hmmm…”. Now I can add soap to the list! I may have a jar problem if I’m starting to buy things just for the jars, lol.
LOL me too. I swear to myself that I only buy Talenti Gelato just for the containers…
Unfortunately I’ve been noticing that baby food where I live does not come in the re-useable glass jars anymore 🙁
BTW, I’ve been lurking in your ‘food’ archives today for Easter recipes and I have a few contenders, mostly all desserts 🙂 Thank you for being you!!
Oooh, I want a gelato that I have to buy for the awesome containers! What a hardship that would be 😉
How did the Easter recipes go? I made pavlova for dessert for the first time—SO GOOD!
Have you used dried/cut peppermint leaf in soap before? I added some to a batch of peppermint-rosemary soap that I made a few weeks ago, and it discolored the soap with tiny orange spots. I worried that it might be DOS, but apparently it’s not – just discoloration around the peppermint leaf pieces. Any idea why that happened?
I had also sprinkled some on top of the soap, and that didn’t seem to cause any discoloration.
I just had a reply from the website where I got the peppermint leaf, and they said that maybe the dropping pH of the soap caused the discoloration, kind of like the lavender buds looking like mouse poop I suppose 😉
Ha, interesting! Oooh, chemistry, you fickle mistress 😉
I haven’t, though I have used ground peppermint extract, and that didn’t turn anything orange. I’ve actually never seen tiny orange spots for anything other than DOS, so perhaps you have discovered a wonderful new way to make soap orange? 😛 It does seem that it has something to do with saponification as the stuff on top wasn’t “baked in”, as it were.
Do you cook them first ? Or purée raw with water or oil ?
Hi! Love your soap blogs!
I have a problem with my soapmaking.
My soaps always have this concrete smell. Its not particularly bad, but its not great either and its strong wich makes all the nice scents I put there go away. I usually put a tablespoon for 300g, more or less, and I use half-lard, half-oil. Is the smell becuse of lard? Do you know anything that makes this smell go away?
Thanks and hope your DYIness continues well cause I love it!
Hmm… odd. My first thought would be it sounds like you aren’t using enough essential oils—the rule of thumb is 30g per 500g oils, and I don’t think 1 tbsp per 300g is equivalent to that. Also, at what point do your soaps smell funny? Some people report lard & tallow soaps smelling a bit lard-y during cure, but that the scent dissipates after a few weeks. Hope that helps—keep me posted 🙂 Thanks for reading!